Comments on: About Viola Sonata. http://www.korschmin.com/library/about-viola-sonata/ It is my hope that these web pages will fairly inform visitors of my intent, satisfy the curious minds of students with educational on-line resources. Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:04:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 hourly 1 By: Niel Peter http://www.korschmin.com/library/about-viola-sonata/comment-page-1/#comment-1597 Niel Peter Thu, 09 Jun 2011 10:32:32 +0000 http://www.korschmin.com/?p=1#comment-1597 I thought that that was a great insight into the person, that he thought of himself as an ordinary person. No wonder that he did so well in the area of music. Music is a food of the soul so he was certainly well fed in his soul. I thought that that was a great insight into the person, that he thought of himself as an ordinary person. No wonder that he did so well in the area of music.

Music is a food of the soul so he was certainly well fed in his soul.

]]> By: Jeremy N. http://www.korschmin.com/library/about-viola-sonata/comment-page-1/#comment-1322 Jeremy N. Wed, 13 May 2009 09:55:50 +0000 http://www.korschmin.com/?p=1#comment-1322 P.S.: An example of the musical pseudo-literacy I spoke about (as well as the tone-deaf cadences of writers who haven't really understood Pater, De Quincey or even Thomas Browne): Peter Kivy's _The Possessor and the Possessed: Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, and the Idea of Musical Genius_. Kivy wants to experiment with polyphonic prose but can only manage florid legalese; he affects an interest in genius but can only italicize thoughts he misconstrues as spontaneous. Your Shostakovich-worshiping) music student reveals more innate musical understanding in a brief letter than Kivy has in any of his turgid and unnecessary books. P.S.: An example of the musical pseudo-literacy I spoke about (as well as the tone-deaf cadences of writers who haven’t really understood Pater, De Quincey or even Thomas Browne): Peter Kivy’s _The Possessor and the Possessed: Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, and the Idea of Musical Genius_. Kivy wants to experiment with polyphonic prose but can only manage florid legalese; he affects an interest in genius but can only italicize thoughts he misconstrues as spontaneous. Your Shostakovich-worshiping) music student reveals more innate musical understanding in a brief letter than Kivy has in any of his turgid and unnecessary books.

]]> By: Jeremy N. http://www.korschmin.com/library/about-viola-sonata/comment-page-1/#comment-1317 Jeremy N. Wed, 13 May 2009 06:53:49 +0000 http://www.korschmin.com/?p=1#comment-1317 I found this essay fascinating for its (musically educated) focus on emotion rather than formal analysis. We live in a decade that is still reacting to the formalism of modernists and the supposed impersonality of postmodern and post-structuralist analysis. Many philosophers have tried to revitalize aestheticism (in perhaps the least aesthetically sensitive prose I've ever read); one infamous essay attempts to privilege "genius" in the romantic sense while neither making the case, revealing any musical understanding, nor even offering useful layman's insights. By contrast, this essay is full of familiarity with Shostakovich's musical language and his idiosyncratic associations, yet it focuses on emotion and sincerity with an artlessness no American or British critic would ever reveal. I'm an editor by trade. Since I don't know the date of this entry, I'm hesitant to offer suggestions that might have become irrelevant. If you'd still like input, I'll be happy to offer you a fair copy and explanations as to why I'd make certain changes. One example: No need to write *timpanies*, since *timpani* is already the plural form. (We don't use the Italian singular form, *timpano*, but we really should.) I found this essay fascinating for its (musically educated) focus on emotion rather than formal analysis. We live in a decade that is still reacting to the formalism of modernists and the supposed impersonality of postmodern and post-structuralist analysis. Many philosophers have tried to revitalize aestheticism (in perhaps the least aesthetically sensitive prose I’ve ever read); one infamous essay attempts to privilege “genius” in the romantic sense while neither making the case, revealing any musical understanding, nor even offering useful layman’s insights. By contrast, this essay is full of familiarity with Shostakovich’s musical language and his idiosyncratic associations, yet it focuses on emotion and sincerity with an artlessness no American or British critic would ever reveal.

I’m an editor by trade. Since I don’t know the date of this entry, I’m hesitant to offer suggestions that might have become irrelevant. If you’d still like input, I’ll be happy to offer you a fair copy and explanations as to why I’d make certain changes.

One example: No need to write *timpanies*, since *timpani* is already the plural form. (We don’t use the Italian singular form, *timpano*, but we really should.)

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